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nChapter 106 Karma (1)

n「Go to the waiting room on the 13th floor.」

n「Please prepare for the next duel.」

nAfter returning to the waiting room, Yoon-seok immediately used the tablet and checked the skills he acquired.

nb Sun-shooting Swordsmanship}, b Heart of the Dragon}, {Welcoming Dance}, {Metallurgy}, {Extreme Limit}, {Beastify}, b Flames of Destruction}.

nA total of seven Unique skills were gained from this duel. The reason why he didn’t choose any general skills was simple: if he was going to choose, he might as well pick the best. In addition, all the challengers who reached the 12th floor had Rank B Unique Skills.

n‘b Predation} is seriously such an unbelievable skill….’

nRealizing how fraudulent {Predation} was, Yoon-seok read the descriptions. Since he didn’t see them fight, he had to check more carefully than usual. However, the rough inspection didn’t take long. Every one of them was very distinctive, just like a Unique Skill should be. However…

n‘Except for one, I’d rather just synthesize it.’

nOn the 9th floor, Yoon-seok realized when he fought against himself how difficult it was to exert all his abilities to the maximum. Sometimes it was better to have one outstanding ability than to be versatile. These Unique Skills were also tailored to the challengers’ personalities. Most of them were the exact opposite of Yoon-seok’s combat style. Well, he was sure he could pull it off if he tried, but it would probably take him forever to get used to all of them.

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n「Please select a skill to synthesize.」

n「It is possible to synthesize up to 3 skills, and all ranks must be the same.」

nFirst of all, Yoon-seok chose {Attack Enhancement} that had been upgraded to Rank B and {Sun-shooting Swordsmanship}. If the former skill received corrections with slashing attacks, the latter was a skill that receives corrections while stabbing. It was fine if they were separated, but there might be some synergy between them.

nFinally, Yoon-seok also chose b Welcoming Dance} for the third option. That ability specialized in avoidance and disruption, which was upgraded by agility. Plus, it was related to swords.

n「Skills has been synthesized.」

n「Acquire {Decapitation}.」

n{Decapitation}

nRank B — Increases agility stats by 2.

nRank C — While using a sword, all attacks are given non-healable properties.

nRank D — When slashing, all resistances are disregarded.

nRank E — When slashing, all defenses are disregarded.

nRank F — Increases agility stats by 2.

nAgility 4. In addition, additional corrections were always applied when a sword was used. It wasn’t to the extent that he had to replace these three Unique Skills, but Yoon-seok continued without being overzealous.

n「Please select skills to synthesize.」

n「It is possible to synthesize up to 3 skills, and all ranks must be the same.」

nHe chose b Heart of the Dragon} and b Extreme Limit}. The former was a specialized survival skill that corrected for physical strength and magic. At the same time, the latter was a skill that grew stronger when driven to a life-and-death situation, like the Berserker characteristic in Sword Mastery.

n‘I think it’ll be okay if it’s combined with b Blood Pact}.’

nNow that he’d done much synthesizing, he felt a good hunch on what went well together.

n「Skill has been synthesized.」

n「Acquired {Immortality}.」

nImmortality

nRank B — In near-death events, you will freeze for 10 seconds and ignore all damage. Wait 720 hours to reuse.

nRank C — A certain amount of magic restores when attacked.

nRank D — Divine attributes can withstand impact four times, but all other attributes are ignored.

nRank E — All types of regeneration increase by 10x.

nRank F — Increases durability stats by 2.

nAs expected, the focus here was survival. Each of them had good effects, but only two of them were particularly notable: the times ten regeneration and the rank B effect that would save his life once.

n‘Pretty good, though?’

nWith a pocket watch that regressed his death timing plus this skill, he would never get to die. The results were very satisfactory. But Yoon-seok wasn’t satisfied with this alone and activated Skill Synthesis again.

n「Please select a skill to synthesize.」

n「It is possible to synthesize up to 3 skills, and all ranks must be the same.」

nThis time, he chose b Beastify} and {Flames of Destruction}. The former was a skill that could transform him into a beast, while the latter was a general attack skill. He couldn’t feel a connection between the two skills, but…

n‘It’ll be pretty balanced if b Avatar} was in the mix.’

nYoon-seok upgraded {Avatar} to Rank B and then selected it for synthesis.

n「Skill has been synthesized.」「Acquire b Demonify}.」

n{Demonify}

nRank B — When using the skill, the power of spatial control is granted.

nRank C — When using the skill, no magic is consumed.

nRank D — When using the skill, all stats increase by 1.

nRank E — When using the skill, all magic skills are given the ‘Flame of Destruction’ property.

nRank F — Transform into a demon. Maintains for 1 minute. Wait 60 minutes to reuse.

nA transformation tactic similar to b Avatar}, however, there was a duration and reuse timer now.

n‘I can’t believe it only lasts for a minute.….’

nHe thought it was a vague time limit to do something, but…that might not be the case for Rank C. Magic wasn’t consumed? This was nothing short of being invincible for one minute for Yoon-seok.

n‘I’ll have to try the rest myself.’

nYoon-seok tried b Demonify}. Then, the shape of his body changed instantly. He quickly made a mirror and looked at himself. He was now about 4 meters tall, with two horns jutting from his forehead, wings, and a pointed tail.…

nFrankly speaking, he looked more like a demon king than a demon. With only 60 seconds left, Yoon-seok quickly explored this ability, starting with the Flame of Destruction.

n‘Force Shield.’

nAs soon as the active skill was used, black flames flared around him. However, he didn’t know what effects those flames entailed. Even if he wanted to check it out for himself, he knew he couldn’t be harmed because of the {Immortality} trait.

n‘I won’t know until the next battle.’

nYoon-seok abandoned his lingering thoughts and focused on the power granted when using b Demonify}. Just as he naturally learned how to use the new powers when he bought them from Elle, this was the same.

nBuzz.

nYoon-seok opened his palm. Then the space above it floated like rippling waves of water, and a crack began to form. The crack was about the size of the two fists combined, but the range could be increased if desired.

nLike this.

nCrackleeeeee…!

nGrumbleeeeeeeeeee!

nThe cracks on his palm grew out of control. As a result, the entire waiting room began to shake as if there was an earthquake. Yoon-seok quickly shut down the power. If the waiting room collapsed under the influence of {Divine Ultimatum}, something very troublesome would happen.

n「The duration ends, and {Demonify} is turned off.」

nDue to space constraints, it wasn’t possible to confirm the impact, but he could guess that he found something very powerful. Finally, Yoon-seok turned his attention to the Unique Skill that had not to undergo synthesis.

n{Metallurgy}

nRank B — Hone equipment. This ability can only be used once.

nRank C — Use points to build equipment.

nRank D — Pays 50% of the selling price to inject special abilities into the equipment. It can be done 3 times for the same equipment.

nRank E — Enhance equipment by paying 10% of the selling price points. It can be done up to 10 times.

nRank F — Dismantling equipment is possible. When disassembling equipment, 50% of the selling price is refunded.

nIt wasn’t a skill to put up for synthesis. This kind of shocking skill wouldn’t come out again. When Yoon-seok used Metallurgy, several categories appeared before his eyes, just like when Skill Synthesis was used.

n「Dismantle」

n「Enhancement」

n「Add ability」

n「Create」

n「Ego Booster」

nYoon-seok chose Dismantle and replaced all the equipment he had obtained from the duel.

n「2.95 million AP is refunded after dismantling the equipment.」

nThe lowest grade of equipment looted was Rank B , so perhaps that was why a huge amount of AP was refunded even though it was half the price.

n‘Then I won’t be needing Steel Stealth anymore.’

nHe acquired Steel Stealth because he didn’t want to throw away the equipment he didn’t need. To be honest, it was a waste to exchange equipment for durability. But he couldn’t undo his past choices.

n‘Well, it’s not like my abilities are going anywhere.….’

nTrying to console himself, Yoon-seok opened the Enhancement category. To test its ability, he spent 150,000 AP to enhance the Plum Blossom Sword.

n*Plum Blossom Sword 1 (Rank A ) – A precious millennium Hwashin sword made from steel of ten thousand years. When equipped, magic recovery speed increases by 11x, and consumption rate decreases by 51% when magic is consumed when using the Plum Blossom Sword.

nIt can never be destroyed.

nThe name was followed by a 1, and the abilities increased by one. However, unlike the effects of the other equipment enhancers in stores, the ranking of the equipment itself remained the same.

n‘It’s vague…’

nThe enhancement efficiency itself is not bad. However, the problem was that Yoon-seok never invested points in equipment. Should he say it’s fine to have it, but also fine to not have it. It was much more advantageous to invest in skills or stats. Next, he also checked the Create ability.

n「Weapon」「Defense」

n「Accessory」「Special」

nOnce the weapon was chosen from the four categories, it was subdivided into several categories like in the store. Yoon-seok entered blade-type and chose long swords. Then a window popped up asking him to choose materials for production.

n‘I’ll try this later if I have a chance.’

nThe store also sold these types of ingredients. He didn’t even know what it was for until Cheon-ma made that scarf with a fabric called Invisible Precious Threads. He didn’t want to buy ingredients and conduct experiments. That meant what was left was Add Ability and Ego Booster.

nHowever, since Ego Booster capabilities could only be used once, he would carefully decide when to use them later.

n「Select the equipment to add special abilities.」

nWhen Yoon-seok chose Add ability, all the equipment, he currently had appeared on the selection list. There was no limit on the number of times, and since it was for experimental purposes, Yoon-seok chose the equipment with the lowest rank.

n「10,000 APs are used to give Leather Boots of the Wild a special ability.」

nA white light appeared around the shoes he was wearing and soon faded away. Yoon-seok immediately identified what changed with Appraisal.

n*Leather Boots of the Wild (Rank D ) – Luxury boots handmade by dwarfs. When both legs touch the ground, endurance increases.

n Never fall.

nIt wasn’t enough to be called special. What did that even mean? In this case, it would be right to say that it was just unusual. Yoon-seok gave the ability one last chance as a test. This time, the ability ‘balance is increased by 4x’ was added.

n‘It’s vague….’

nWas it because the rank of the equipment was low, and the points used accordingly were low too? Contrary to his expectations, there was nothing tangible.

n‘Let’s close our eyes and test it one more time with a good one.’

nYoon-seok chose the Plum Blossom Sword this time.

n「750,000 APs are used to give Plum Blossom Sword a special ability.」

n*Two phantom images will appear following an attack.

nPhantom images will appear? Yoon-seok took out Plum Blossom Sword and sliced the air.

nWhoosh!

nIt was only cut vertically once, and phantoms of the sword appeared side by side. It was the same when stabbing or when he sent out sword energy.

n‘This isn’t bad, though…?’

nNo, in other words, it was positive. If it were a pro like Cheon-ma, she probably could tell in one glance, but not everyone had eyes like that. He confirmed this ability was worth investing in. Next, Yoon-seok shifted to the Sun Monarch’s Judgment Sword.

nThe Judgment Sword that was bought with LP was different from Plum Blossom Sword. To add abilities, he had to pay half the price of 650LP, not AP. But LP was one of the valuable resources that allowed him to undergo other trials.

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n‘But I’m sure I’ll keep using it anyway.…’

nIt didn’t take long to decide.

n「650LP is used to give the Sun Monarch’s Judgment Sword a special ability.」

nA white light cast over the Judgment Sword. Yoon-seok gulped and confirmed the added ability.

n Karma can be identified.

nKarma? He couldn’t understand. Just in case, Yoon-seok made a mirror and looked inside.

nAnd he realized almost immediately…

n“…”

nThat a very valuable ability was embedded in the sword.

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